This morning, a spokesperson for Hooters responded to my request for comment, explaining the closures were due to a legal disagreement between the franchise owner and a third party.

Here’s the statement:

The Hooters restaurant locations in Renton and Lake Union Washington closed as a result of a judgment issued by a Washington State court in a legal matter between the owner of the franchisee for these locations and a third party. The disagreement was not related to the operation of the restaurants or a default by the franchisee with the franchisor of Hooters, Hooters of America, LLC of Atlanta, Georgia. The closings do not affect the Tacoma or Spokane Washington locations.

“The closing of these two stores stems from a disagreement between our franchisee and a third party and does not relate to the performance of these locations or the viability of our concept in Washington State. We are sorry to see these restaurants close and we look forward to the opening of other locations in Washington State at a future date,” said Mike McNeil the VP of Marketing for Hooters of America, LLC.

The two Hooters location were owned by the Chicago-based Altium Development Group.